บท 41: Rivalry
"Sir, the representative from FanQuest sent over the final schedule. There are some changes you may want to take note of."
Brandon Li looked up from his work, pausing to take note of the individual standing in front of him. His assistant was a slim man, old enough to be his father, with the most stereotypical pair of horned rim glasses he had ever seen. With the recent increase in Brandon's work and popularity it was necessary to tolerate this man's presence almost 24/7. That didn't mean he always enjoyed it, however.
"Thank you, Daniel," he dismisses, opening his email to find the flagged correspondence. It didn't take long to read through the proposal, and his brow drew together in annoyance. They wanted him to participate in a meet and greet following one of the panels, giving fans a chance to get his autograph. To some artists, it would be no trouble, but Brandon was long past such amateur days. His
merchandise table was run by hired staff, and he already has limited edition prints there. Why would he want to give away autographs for nothing?
Furthermore, they wanted him to appear in another panel: 'Successful Online Comics 101'. He knew there would be hundreds of wannabe artists gathered for such an event, hoping for their chance at stardom. Brandon scoffed. He was not a role model to encourage these ducklings to dream and pursuit something so unattainable. It took years of tireless effort to reach where he was. Now they hoped he could give the basics for the conventions benefit? It was almost insulting.
"Sir, I would look at the panelist list before deciding," Daniel suggested. His assistant already sensed his bad tempter, and had lingered to control the situation. Brandon held back a retort and followed the suggestion. Skimming through the names, he noted one person: Evan Nicholas.
Ah, so there was the reason for such a fruitless panel; Brandon knew about this kid. Evan had no resume, no published works, not even a management company behind him. He had a shot at luck online and rose it to where he was today. It was all based on one comic, Twisted Tales. Brandon has long desired to squash this bug since he appeared.
Seeing him listed for this panel gave other concern though. Because Evan was such a lucky little twit, fans would flock to here his advice, and possibly consider pursuing online comics as well. If Brandon didn't attend, who would stop that kid from putting ideas into their hearts that they too can be famous? Brandon was not keen on seeing so many undertrained artists fill the field instead of receiving the rigorous greening process of past years.
He looked over the contract details. They were willing to increase his appearance fee for the troubles, which was fair. Plus, he was doing little work for this event and reeling the benefits through their popularity. Maybe, this once, he could stoop to their level.
"Agree to the terms. It's about time I reminded people what it really takes to survive in this industry," he said, narrowing his eyes at the computer screen.
Daniel nodded, but didn't leave. Brandon politely turned back to him. "There are additional contracts in your inbox to go over. The upcoming Sakura event and the manga collaboration both responded to the counter offers. And Manager Long wishes to schedule a meeting to finalize some of the spreads for the next publication."
"Thank you," Brandon acknowledged. "Make the necessary arrangements."
"Yes, sir."
On Brandon's screen were many documents. There were text layouts, library, color packets and notes. On his desk were additional reminders for the rest of his week. This was the world of a real artist. The small matters with the fan convention seemed so trivial to his day to day life. The demands of him job were not something just anyone could step into. He spent years studying, applying his skills and working to reach his levels. How many years did it take living off tiny paychecks and no sleep to get to where he was? He needed to remind dreamers that it took real effort to become anything in this life.
Why should they get the easy route when others slaved for their accomplishments?
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